Community Rallies After Transgender Woman's Murder
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Community groups are rallying for answers after a transgender woman was found shot and killed on the city's West Side earlier this week.
Paige Clay, 23, a male-to-female transgender person, was found shot and killed Monday morning. Her body was found in an alley behind the 4500 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, according to Harrison District police Lt. John Andrews.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the victim as Marvin Clay, and said she suffered a gunshot wound to the face. The manner of death was a homicide.
Police say Clay suffered a gunshot wound to the forehead. A woman called authorities about the body in an alley behind her home, police said.
In the wake of the murder, Brian Turner, social worker at the community group Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, tells the Chicago Phoenix he is organizing an event to call for answers in Clay's murder.
Turner runs a program for transgender women called Women of Many Voices, and Clay was a member of the group, the Phoenix reported. He also describes Clay as an adopted member of his family by way of his aunt, who was Clay's foster mother, the Phoenix reported.
Turner is expressing disappointment about the investigation of Clay's death, and says he was not allowed to identify her body at the Medical Examiner's office because he is not immediate family, the Phoenix reported.
The Phoenix reports Clay was well-known in the LGBT ball community, and held several part-time jobs in the area.
In an effort to unite the community and seek information to help solve Clay's murder, Turner and the Taskforce are planning a "Justice for Paige" rally Tuesday, May 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The rally will be held at Taskforce headquarters, 9 N. Cicero Ave.
